1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to an ultrasound observation apparatus for observing tissues of an observation target by using ultrasound waves. The disclosure also relates to a method for operating the ultrasound observation apparatus, and to a computer-readable recording medium.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, as a technique for observing tissue characteristics of an observation target such as a specimen by using ultrasound waves, a technique that makes an image of a feature of a frequency spectrum of a received ultrasound signal has been known (for example, see JP 5568199 B1). In this technique, the feature of a frequency spectrum is extracted as an amount that represents the tissue characteristics of the observation target, and then a feature image obtained by adding corresponding visual information to the feature is generated and displayed. A user such as a doctor diagnoses the tissue characteristics of the specimen by seeing the displayed feature image.
For example, in JP 5568199 B1, the number of focus stages in an area set in an ultrasound image (hereinafter also referred to as an area of interest) and a plurality of focus positions are determined based on the position of the area of interest and the size of the area of interest, and the feature is calculated by performing frequency analysis on ultrasound waves transmitted to and received from each focus position.